The Walrus Talks Africa's Next Generation (Toronto)

Toronto7:00 p.m., Thursday, September 21, 2017

The Walrus Talks is a national series of events about Canada and its place in the world. Each event offers thoughtful, inspiring thinking from scholars, writers, performers, scientists, artists, and business leaders.

Eight speakers for seven minutes each on the next generation of African leaders, education access and equality, youth, gender equality, and social justice.

Featuring

Ikram Abdinur, co-founder of the Global Indigenous Youth Coalition

Bior Ajak, MasterCard Foundation Scholar, McGill University

Alfred Baafi Acheampong, MasterCard Foundation Scholar, UBC

Nana aba Duncan, host of Fresh Air on CBC Radio One and creator of Media Girlfriends

Janet Longmore, founder and CEO of Digital Opportunity Trust

Lamia Naji, associate manager, The MasterCard Foundation

Dania Suleman, lawyer and community activist

Ikram Abdinur is an Edmonton-based filmmaker and human rights activist. In 2016, in response to racial inequality in her community, she co-founded the Global Indigenous Youth Coalition with fellow filmmaker and activist Nigel Henri Robinson. The organization offers monthly events where attendees speak of their past experiences with discrimination and channel them into creative work.

Bior Ajak comes from South Sudan, grew up in Kenya, and is now an Equity Scholar and MasterCard Foundation Scholar in economics at McGill University. He is currently vice-president of the McGill African Students’ Society, and he is passionate about global peace, food security, and sustainable agriculture. He aspires to stop the conflicts in South Sudan by encouraging crop production and reducing threats to nomadic pastoralism.

Alfred Baafi Acheampong is a MasterCard Foundation Scholar, environmental systems professional, and entrepreneur. While working in a mining town in Ghana, he came to understand the vulnerability of local communities and the urgent need to conserve ecologically safe environments. Alfred holds a master’s in land and water systems from the University of British Columbia. He is the co-founder of the Land Reclamation and Environmental Conservation Society.

Nana aba Duncan hosts Fresh Air on CBC Radio One and was country director for Journalists for Human Rights in Ghana. Nana aba has hosted Radio 2 Top 20, Big City Small World, the Harry Jerome Awards, the Women’s Blues Revue, and the CBC Music Festival. She is the creator of Media Girlfriends, a podcast in which women in media discuss their accomplishments, impostor syndrome, and Beyoncé.

Janet Longmore is the founder and CEO of Digital Opportunity Trust, a movement of young social innovators who are transforming communities across Africa. A champion for youth-led solutions to global issues, Janet has worked with the World Economic Forum and Ashoka. She is a recipient of the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Cross, which recognizes innovative social leadership in Canada.

Lamia Naji supports learning and strategy at the MasterCard Foundation, where she focuses on the financial inclusion portfolio. Previously, Lamia held positions at Global Affairs Canada and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada. She has worked with UNICEF Eastern Caribbean in Barbados and the Aga Khan Foundation in Tanzania. She holds a master’s of public policy and administration at Carleton University.

Dania Suleman is a Quebec labour lawyer and social-justice advocate. She completed her master’s in law at the University of Quebec in Montreal, writing on ways to reconcile gender equality and freedom of religion. Dania speaks often about discrimination, women’s rights, and freedom of religion. She hosts a monthly radio show on feminism.